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Thesis Award

The Outstanding Thesis Award

  • About the award

    The Outstanding Thesis Award was established in 2016 to recognize a student graduating from a thesis‐based master’s or doctoral program whose thesis represents an original work that makes a substantial contribution to the discipline.

    One award from each Faculty will be presented annually in each of the master’s and doctoral categories:

    • Master’s Thesis Award: This award recognizes a master’s student who has written an outstanding master’s thesis and whose thesis has made (or is expected to make) a significant contribution to their field.
    • Doctoral Thesis Award: This award recognizes a doctoral student who has written an outstanding doctoral thesis that represents a remarkably impactful contribution to their field of research. 
  • Eligibility criteria

    The award is open to all students who have completed a thesis-based graduate program and meet the following criteria:

    • Nomination for the award by unanimous agreement of the examining committee following the oral examination.
    • Obtained a GPA of 3.7 or higher in their program.
    • The outcome of their thesis defence was either Acceptable without Required Revisions or Acceptable with Minor Revisions.
    • No academic offenses on their record.

    Note: students who submit their thesis to SGPS after the winter submission deadline will be considered in the following year’s competition. 

  • Nomination process

    Examining committees will consider the thesis for the award following the oral defence.

    Each Faculty will create a selection committee to review the nominated theses. They will be permitted to nominate one student in each category to the Dean of SGPS.

    Students in eligible cross-Faculty joint programs will be considered within the Faculty of their registration and convocation for the purposes of this process.

    The nomination package for each candidate will be submitted to the SGPS Dean for final approval, and must include:

    • Nomination form
    • A summary of the decision-making process including scoring (if applicable).
    • Copy of the thesis
    • Copy of the examiner report(s) on the thesis.
    • Copy of the Chair’s Report on Thesis Examination

    The electronic application package should be submitted via email to gradstudies@ontariotechu.ca by the given deadline for that year’s cycle.

  • Award timelines and presentation

    The award will be given out on an annual basis corresponding with convocation ceremonies in June. As such, the submission deadline for nomination packages will normally be after the SGPS Winter thesis package deadline. Each year, SGPS will circulate the deadline date as part of the call for nominations announcement sent to each Faculty. 

    All eligible candidates must have completed their defence, fulfilled all degree requirements, and submitted their thesis within the eligibility window, which extends from the day after the posted Winter thesis submission deadline in the previous academic year to the day of the current year’s deadline.

    Nominees who attended their convocation ceremony in October will remain eligible for award consideration. In the event such a nominee is the winner, they will be provided with instructions for picking up their award materials.